


Sweet Rolls

by niaocha



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Gen, Magic Revealed
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-15
Updated: 2020-09-15
Packaged: 2021-03-06 14:11:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 793
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26480146
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/niaocha/pseuds/niaocha
Summary: A magical reveal of a slightly sweeter flavor.
Kudos: 31





	Sweet Rolls

Gwen was not that observant of a person. It was really the opposite - she was quite dense, but that didn't stop her from being inquisitive. She had a naturally curious mind, as she liked to say. Elyan liked to say she was naturally nosy, but that wasn't the point. No, the point was that, despite her general aloof-ness, Gwen cared about people, and so she inquired into their wellbeing.

Which was why Merlin was confusing her. Sighing, she looked up at the darkening sky as she picked her way across the castle square, avoiding the hustle of the evening traffic with practised ease. 

Generally speaking, Gwen was the kind of person people talked to. Her countenance had something warm about it that made people confide in her - not intentionally, on her part; it was just who Gwen was. So, when Gwen had inquired after the sticks in Merlin’s hair, and gotten a non answer - _oh, i was just gathering herbs -_ or when she has asked about a cut on his hand, and Merlin had said _oh, I really must be going after Arthur,_ and ran off, Gwen didn't notice. She wasn't the most observant, after all.

But this time, she had noticed - it was hard not to. Gwen had gone to Gaius’s quarters and asked after Gwaine, as he and Merlin were having a spat over some dropped armor. Merlin had been holding something - a book? And, when Gwen had entered, he had startled, dropping whatever he had been midway through gesturing in the air with, and then looked so dejected that Gwen had gone in for a hug.

Gwen had asked if he was okay, and what he was doing - and she got _ah, just usual old clumsy me, dropping Gaius’s notes_. Gwen had seen that lie for what it was, but had left it be, which she was now regretting quite a bit.

Snapping out of her reverie, she pulled her skirt out of a puddle and continued her brisk walk home. Passing through the central courtyard, hearing the chimes of _Arthur defeated another sorcerer_ and _banquet in his honor_ and _alone and unaided_ , she wondered what was up with Merlin; he must have been doing something else entirely that morning, but why not tell Gwen when she asked? Gwen was a friend, after all. The sky dimmed further as she passed towards the castle, taking a diagonal path through the lower courtyard. As the guards lit the candles, making the castle windows bathed in light, the stone paths emptied out from the nightly exodus home. Gwen, alone with her thoughts, aimlessness wandered in the direction of her own house, until she found herself pausing under the section of tower she knew to be Merlin’s. She leaned against the castle wall and sighed, looking up towards Merlin’s window in contemplation.

Gaius’s voice rang out from the arrow slit window. “ _Mer_ lin! What did I say about studying at this hour?”

“Um, that I shouldn’t?”

“Yes, you silly boy! Studying more spells to save Arthur from the next magical beast won’t help you if you’re dead on your feet!”

“But-”

“No buts! Go to sleep!”

Gwen gaped in surprise. Spells? To save Arthur? Merlin was a sorcerer? 

The floor above her creaked as Merlin shuffled around his room, and Gwen snapped out of her initial shock. Saving Arthur - Merlin, really? She thought back to the _alone and unaided_ of earlier, and then Merlin’s exasperated _never knows how much I do for him, really_ , and she snickered. Loudly. Of course it was _Merlin_ off being a sorcerer in Camelot. Her friend, Merlin, the least evil person to possibly exist in the castle. She had been thinking firestorms, plagues, droughts - Merlin was probably just magicking himself some sweet rolls from the kitchen.

Above her, Merlin paused. After a beat, he resumed his shuffling as Gwen held her hand over her mouth, still stifling her surprised laughter. She heard a faint whisper of something from the window, and then a blue light bathed the area where Gwen was standing. She whirled around, realizing that she was now visible, and hurried down the path to go home. Turning back, though, she saw the same light glimmering out of Merlin’s window, and him reading something or another; she watched for a moment, before twirling back along the dark path to home.

-

When Merlin awoke the next morning - too late, as per usual - he found a note on his bedside table in neatly looping handwriting, along with a new looking candle.

"Merlin- Really, if you need anything, I'm here. And, no need to bother magicking a light, I think a candle will do just fine. Although, magic could be useful for stealing sweet rolls - for lunch today, perhaps?"


End file.
